The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, an imaging apparatus, and an image processing method of being capable of providing distance information about an object to be measured.
In general, there is known a technology for measuring a distance to an object to be measured using a plurality of images with different view points. For example, Citation 1 describes a distance calculation method using a technique being referred to as stereo matching.
In such a stereo matching technology, a distance is calculated from a plurality of disparity images along a horizontal (H direction) or a vertical direction (V direction) within the images by determining a phase difference between the disparity images. The phase difference is determined by sequentially moving local areas (unit areas) of objects to be compared in a horizontal direction, and detecting a position offset (pixel offset) between the disparity images having most correlated unit areas within a comparison range. Also, it is possible to calculate the distance from the plurality of disparity images along a direction at any angle within the images.